Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-08-20
FORTY YEARS A POSTWAR.
Charles A. Tyler Has Alone Handed
0ut over Five Million Letters.

Charles A. Tyler Has Alone Handed
Dat over Five Million Letters.
Little has ever been written about
the old postmen who have spent their
lives working for Us here, says The
.Ne,C Tork World. The higher officials
IN the postoflice building do not like to
have the employees interviewed. There
is something pathetic in the lie
work of these men, who. when they
get too old to attend TO their duties.
are showed aside to starve, if 50 be.
Other faithful p@bl c servants are pcn-
stoned: Not % Wi; these men. VI tn
postmer, more shan with almost ahy
other ella IS of public servants, lengthy
service means proved tru>tworthlncN>.
Thousands of dollars pass through
their hands. and valuable documents
and important letterS ale intruStcd 10
them Sut people forget these things.
Less ornamental than the policeman -
a sidewalk adornmcnt, AMI Infinitely
mon, useful, the DosJman lam ~
figure bctravs nothing ST the time h.
has done duty ~ the streets. There
ale no stripes on the posiman Goa!
sleeve indicating the wears h. has
travelled to aad go on his peaceful
crrends. Yet each year aided ID his
record sheds n lustcr upon his char
actcr as an honest employc ct The .Hr-
Is 4 7, -
: i concerned, is that he il0uriShe' in
/ virtue comparatively unknown. Non
/ political, he has hope fer No at.antc-
ment by irtiu6RJC. IL is wholly al
/ The hicTtr of hi supar!Ors. WHO east
/ ght or shade upon his existence us
they NAV choose. He is doomed TO
! hard work year in and year cut. Tie
people of one district ~ sooner become
acquainted with him than he Is rcmuv-
cd to another and he is quickly forgot
ten by his former friends.
Thus 'e,te;. carrier may 90 on his
rounds for twenty or thirty years with
out the fact being publicly known. A
lettcr-carrier with the patience of job
and the modesty Of saint eCrid pass Il
LIFETIME delivering nail in this city
without other than his immediate ac-
1uaintances being aware Of il.
Charles A. Tyler has the longest rec
ord of any postman perhaps in the
United States. certainly in New ! DIRK.
He was appointed in tsij through the
instrutnentalty of Edw n Cros5well. then
ed tor OF The AGHy -dryHS. lie has
done every kind of postal worHAdeiiv-
II L J.. ~. i
cd station and cIcrked mt money!
order Office. Since 1881 he has attend
cd to all the ma matter on Governor
island, where he is a general iaNorite.
forty-lnrce years is a long time 10 pass
in any department of the civ scrV &c.
As the experience of Il lcttcr-carr er I
implies not only career of rCctitGd2.
but famiiar;tf with the various changes
that have affected our postal system.
Mr.. L, ler's ha has grown siiverv in
the work. He is Ga wears Of age and
far from intirm. There were twenty
five regular carriers when he sought a
position among them. He commenced
rs An outside ass slant The regulars
had the privilege of hiring whatever
help they needed. Finally he obtained
a route to himself, some two aud Il half
miles round, with The city hall Is It's
center. Fifty men are now detailed to
il.
Those were halcyon DAYS for the post
MEN. They had their deliveries daily
at Q A. NJ, noon, and 3 Z. NJ They
levied tribute on the public. For each
= letter delivered they received = cents
and for each newspaper cent. Many
Of them made money. When they had
more mail than they could distribate
| they resorted to drug store or gro
| Gerry. where they Darcaled up the sur
! ! plus for their assistants To deliver. 1t
! WAS nothing for a regular 10 earn
! 80 Or SIP per day. aud his gains in
: creased when the gold fever broke out.
The first Improvement in the post
! Office WAS to stamp the amount ot post
are on the cover of the mail II n red
letters, it was 10 be paid by the rrceiy-
or. Some anus NJ incidents occurred
= in taiS connect on. The carriers lid
v not quite comprehend the salary pr.nC!-
e pie. \ list of the postage they were ia
!. collect was kept by I! clerk, and on Fri
day. which was payday, the total sun
for the week was deducted from THEN
= wages. We'll" said Mr.. Tyler, "as +;
set-ofi' against this imposition, rs they
called for il was mighty hard tC
! convince them that the postage charg
ed was not their due-some of them col
lected the amount on the envelope
, whether it was printed in black or res
figures. Consequently double pos'a%,
was extor,ed on some letters. 80 lon.
= as the public did not grumblc the clrri
\ ers were ind fferent. They dill i Ia b,
on the safe side, and sure enough
I when Friday came round, tn" ma "
J. of them not only had enough to nice
: the bill of red but u uice ne,tcGg fo
3 the following week. >
. Mr.. Tyler calculates that he has dc
livered over five million piece. OF nia
matter since he joined the sery O.. IA
o Guiding at least half million lett rs
ate, to Governors island.